Hormonal Instinct
by tyedyeXbilly
Summary: One shot. Can you blame a girl for acting on instinct?


**A/N: So this kinda goes with HBP, but not completely. Also, it goes a bit after the war. Review if you wish to, I won't force you but I do love to read them.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any or the character or setting…… or the gum.**

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After Hermione had finished her patrol of the Hogwarts Express and was on her way back to the compartment she was sharing with Ron, Harry, Neville and Luna; an unexpected student came suddenly out of a compartment she was close to. Hermione walked right into this student, sending her back a few steps.

"I . . . sorry," she stammered without looking up at the person she bumped into, feeling embarrassed.

"Watch where you're going, Granger," said the student.

She recognized that voice at once, except it didn't have the usual coldness it bore. The fact that he had called her by her surname, Granger, was a huge improvement from his normal insults he bombarded her with.

Hermione looked up into his face; he seemed paler then usual, almost emitting a glow in the sun lit corridor. Slight bags had formed under his eyes, as if the though of coming back to Hogwarts had kept him up the previous night. His eyes, once full of hatred at the sight of Hermione, now seemed to have a small trace of plea in them, if no emotion in them at all. His face did not ware its normal smirk; just like his eyes, it held very little if no emotions at all.

Hermione had half the heart to ask him if he was all right. She opened her mouth to ask but before she was able to form any words he placed a finger over her lips, shushing her immediately. Her heart gave a little flutter at this 'out of character' action. He smiled a small smile at her and walked off towards the opposite end of the train in which Hermione was facing. Turning to the direction that he was headed, she wanted to say something to him. However, she couldn't find any words to say to him. Instead, she watched as Draco Malfoys form grew steadily farther away from her.

Hermione stood rooted in the spot for a bit, pondering over what just happened in her head. She had too much experience with Draco Malfoy to know all to well that that he was up to nothing good.

_But, _she though to her self in the same spot still, _he might have changed. Maybe he matured over the summer._ She had noticed how long she had been standing there in the corridor and continued on her way back to her compartment.

"What kept you?" asked Ron, when Hermione finally made it back.

"I," she began, almost telling them of her encounter with Malfoy; she decided against telling them what really happened and continued, "Oh, well a few 3rd years had some dungbombs so I confiscated them."

"How'd you know their-"

"They've been on the band list since our first year," she started, not letting Ron finish his question, "Do you honestly think Mr. Filch'll take them off the list now?"

"Have you still got them?" Ron asked as he unwrapped a Chocolate Frog and examined the card held within.

"Oh, honestly Ron," Hermione began, taking a seat on Luna's right, next to the train window, "Fred and George have their own shop! I'm sure you could get a load of dungbombs for free."

"You know they charge my double!"

The train ride to Hogwarts went by as it did every year (with the exception of 3rd year); Harry and Ron swapping newly achieved Chocolate Frog cards, Luna reading her upside down copy of_ The Quibbler_, Neville trying his best to keep a desperate hold of his toad, and Hermione keeping a steady gaze out of the window, watching the scenery change. Her thoughts would, no matter how much she willed them not to, drift back to her 'incident' with Malfoy. She was trying to decipher it; searching for some sort of hidden message it might have held. Hermione was so accustom to this particular Slytherins normal snide comments that his strange behavior bewildered her to the utmost extent. Normally, she counted on her logic to help her resolve any situation that was handed to her; this, on the other hand, was out of her grasp. She was asking herself to figure out the inner workings of an enemies' mind.

The sky darkened as they came closer to their destination, Hermione had completely lost track to time and soon realized that she had skived off her duties as Prefect completely. When she abruptly stood up, it is needless to say that she got startled looks from her friends.

"Forgot to patrol the train," she said in response to her friends' looks. She had almost pulled open the compartment door when she noticed that Harrys company was no longer with them. "Where has Harry gotten off to?"

"Something about a bathroom, I do believe," came Luna's dreamy voice over the top of her magazine.

"Right," replied Hermione, taking her school robes with her as she left the compartment to change.

She was having difficulty navigating through the corridor of the train; apparently every other student thought now would be a good time to change into their uniforms as well. Using a large number of 'Ron like' tactics she managed to change and start her long waited patrol. It was now when she realized why her subconscious did not want her to make her patrol; she feared the moment that she would run into Draco again. She only feared it because of his new way of acting towards her; she was worried about what he was up to and did not like the idea of finding it out without her friends to protect her, if it was to be anything bad. Merlin seemed to be on her side as she didn't run into him again while doing her rounds.

When she got back to her compartment, she noticed that her friends had changed with the exception of Harry who was not back from his trip to the 'bathroom'.

"Harry hasn't been back yet, has he?" Hermione asked, retaking her seat.

"No," came Nevilles muffled voice from under the seat opposite of Hermione. Apparently he was in search of his run away toad, Trevor.

Hermione gave Ron a questioning look, suggesting that he knew more about Harrys true whereabouts then he was letting on. Ron simply shrugged his shoulders at her in response. They both knew all to well about Harrys impossible theory of Malfoy being a Death Eater and, armed with this knowledge, she thought to linger on the train for a bit after they got to the station and search the compartment that Malfoy had come out of in hope of finding Harry there.

The train slowly made it to a halt and the noises from outside the compartment grew louder as students pushed their way to the exits. She let her friends leave before her, saying that she forgot a book in the Prefects compartment when Ron raised an eyebrow at her for not rushing to her duties. When most of the noise died away, she made her way to what she assumed was Malfoys' compartment. A few doors from where she needed to be, she saw Malfoy leave the compartment again, his back facing her. Hermione froze in place, not wanting to be seen or heard. He slowly turned around and their eyes caught each others. Thinking quickly she asked him, "You haven't seen Harry anywhere have you?"

"Potter?" he asked back to her. After a short pause he said slightly shakily, "I think I might have seen him with Weasel through the window a few moments ago."

"Thanks," she said as she began to walk again towards an exit. Her hand was on the exit handle and was about to push it open when Malfoy called out to her.

"Yes?" she turned her head towards his direction and was that was only a few feet from her. She made a small jump as this new proximity startled her.

"D'you mind riding in the same carriage as me?" he asked with a chuckle in his voice caused from Hermiones startledness.

"What about your chr- er, friends?" she replied, taken aback.

"I'm sure my 'cronies' are at the school by now, complaining about how the food never arrives fast enough. So, would you mind?"  
Hermione blushed a bit and said,"Oh . . . sure."

They made a short walk to the horseless carriage in what Hermione thought was an awkward silence. Once they where seated on the straw that lined the bottom of the carriages, in front of each other, the question that had been in Hermiones mind sense they had first bumped into each other came out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Why are you being nice to me? It's not like you at all."

Her hands flew over her mouth and clasped it shut as the carriage jerked slightly as it began to head toward the school. Another chuckle escaped Dracos lips that had now formed into his famous smirk. He looked up at her though the bangs of his platinum blond hair and answered her question with another, "Are you complaining?"

"N-no," she stammered, "Just a little curious, is all."

"Ever think that I might have grown out of my childish hatred?"

"Or maybe this is part of some devious plot against Harry, Ron and I."

"Merlin Granger, you don't forgive people, do you?"

"I forgive people . . . once they've apologized."

"Oh alright! I'm sorry for every name I've ever called you and your friends and every time I've made your life hell at Hogwarts. Also, sorry is your hand hurt after you broke my nose."

Hermiones face flushed a deep crimson that was clearly visible in the dark carriage. "I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did. Can't blame you though, I would have done the same thing now that I look back on it."

Once they exited the carriage (Draco, always the gentlemen, offered her a hand getting out of the carriage which she gladly accepted) they where on their way up to the school, and had a conversation that was not suited for enemies rather friends. After a very childish debate on who was going to win the House Cup that year, they found themselves at the doors to the Great Hall. Giving their good byes, they made it for their owl house tables. She noticed that Harry was not sitting next to Ron, or anywhere else at their table for that matter; she had completely forgotten what Draco had told her about Harry being with Ron. Hermione picked the unoccupied seat in front of Ron.

"Did you see Harry?" Ron asked her as she sat down.

Hermione quickly glanced up to the staff table and saw that the Potions Master, Professor Snape was no where to be found. "No, I haven't. Wheres Snape?"

Her question was answered shortly after she asked it. The Great Hall doors where opened with a loud sound; Professor Snape walked though the doors and not too far behind him fallowed Harry. Every eye in the Great Hall was now upon Harry, naturally. If he had been blushing, no one could tell due to the vast amount of blood that had consumed his face. Harry made it to his houses table and did not look at a single soul in the room as he sat down next to Ron.

"Merlin Harry, whats happened to your face?!" asked Ron once the students returned their attention back to Professor Dumbledore's start of term speech.

Hermione muttered the cleaning spell, _Scourgify_, and all the blood came off of Harrys face as Harry whispered his tale of what had happened on the train.

"Somehow Tonks found me and took me up to the gates of the school. Snape was waiting there to escort me to the school, I'm sure he volunteered to come and get me so he could have a 'Harry bashing' session without anyone over hearing." Harry finished at the same time Professor Dumbledore finished with the announcements for this year.

"Don't you think he might have been showing up his friends?" asked Ron who was putting anything he could reach onto his plate.

"Well, it came to mind-"

"Harry, he's only 16. I highly doubt you-know-who is accepting teenagers as Death Eaters. Anyways, you can't blame Dra- er, Malfoy for what he did." She stated, without looking up from her plate that was slowly consuming food.

Ron looked at her wide eyed, letting a bit of food fall out of his mouth that was now hanging open. Harry only looked at her blankly.

"Sorry, but it almost sounded like you where siding with Malfoy for a moment." Ron said once he had gained his composure.

"I wasn't _siding _with him," Hermione started as she made small mountains out of her potatoes, "he was a _bit _out of line-"

"D'you think?" Ron interrupted.

"But," she continued as though she was never interrupted, "I know I might be a little peeved if my enemy was eavesdropping on me." Her mountains how where wearing facial features.

The days slowly drifted by and Hermione found herself spending more and more time with Draco. Harry still hadn't dropped his supissions about Draco being a Death Eater and no matter what she said to him, him mind did not budge away from this theory. The first Quidditch game of the year was now upon them and, due to Harrys un-captain like way of making Ron a better Keeper, Gryffindor won the game aginst Slytherin. In the Gryffindor common room, as is customary under these circumstances, was rowdy and joyous in celebrating the team for its win and Harrys first win as captain, the fact that this had been his fist game ever as captain made for more cheers. Despite the noise that was distracting Hermione from her studies, she could help but give herself over to the cheers. For the first time she found herself having a good time and cheering with the rest of her house mates when she could have been being a good student and studying. She had been laughing heartily and goofing around when she felt an urge to admit her feelings for Ron. This seemed to be the perfect time. Just as she was about to, Lavender Brown had gotten the same idea. Lavender had run up to Ron, threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. A tight know had engulfed her innerds and she made for a quick exit out of the common room.

Tears of anger and hurt came in rivers down her face, she was not thinking about where she was going. Nor did she care; she fallowed her feet to where ever they felt like carrying her off to. They had led Hermione to the entrance of a bathroom and she quietly entered, still looking down at her feet. A soft sob came from somewhere inside the bathroom. Her head snapped up at the sound and her eyes fell upon a broken form of Draco Malfoy leaning over a sink; hands hold either side of the sink, his hair was very messy as if his hands had been tightly grasping and pulling it, and, from what Hermione could tell out of the reflection in the dirty mirror, his eyes where puffy and red. In the little time their friendship had made its appearance, she knew for a fact that Draco did not cry over something that was anything less than highly serious.

"Draco?" she called softly, her voice echoing around the bathroom.

He whipped around rather quickly and said, "Shouldn't you be celebrating?" while trying to wipe the streaks that his tears had left on his face.

The knot in her stomach tightened a bit as the scene of Ron and Lavender replayed in her head, "I would prefer not to be in the same room as Ron at the moment."

"Whats the Weasel done this time?" he asked as he walked over to her to comfort her.

Hermione spilled exactly how she felt and what she thought about Ron and his new snogging partner to Draco. They had never, in the past of their new found friendship, talked over matters that pertained to this subject. She found that Draco happened to be a great listener when it came to touchy things like the emotions of complicated women. He paid very close attention to every syllable she spoke and was very comforting.

After a metric ton of tears from Hermione, a few well times hugs on Dracos part and many Ron bashings (mostly coming from Hermione, Draco couldn't help but like it when she talked about Ron like this) later she was feeling much better. Draco was quite thankful at the fact that she hadn't asked him why he had been hiding out in a girl's bathroom. He believed, if he was to tell her, her life might be in danger; Draco was informed not to tell anyone of what task had been handed to him.

She was just about to leave and return to the common room when some hormonal instinct took over her. Hermione walked over to Draco, who wanted to stay in the bathroom a bit longer, and got so close to him that she could smell his slightly minty breath. **(A/N: Stride Spearmint gum, lol.) **Stood on her tiptoes so she could reach him and placed a light kiss upon his chilled lips **(A/N: Dentyne Ice gum. How he switched his gum in such a short period of time without me catching it is well beyond me.)** Before Draco had any time to react, Hermione broke off the kiss.

"I . . . sorry," she murmured and made for the bathroom door for a second time. She was about to grab the handle when Dracos strong arm slid around her waist, wrapped across her lower stomach and rested his hand on the other side of her waist. He pulled her towards him until she could feel the definition of his muscles on her back. Draco bent his beat close to hers whispered into her ear, "Don't be."

His hot breath sent shivers down her spine. Hermione turned her head to look into his eyes of melted silver. Draco slowly led his lips to hers and when they met for a second time she became completely lost in the ecstasy that lined them. Her mind began to fog; somehow her fingers had found his hair and began to tangle themselves within his soft locks. At some point she found that she had been turned around to face him; his mouth doing exotic things to her neck while his hands journeyed over every curve of her body. She could hear moans escaping from some place in her throat as he worked on her neck. Her back was pressed aginst a cold wall of the bathroom even though she had no recollection of getting there. Nor did she remember loosing her school robes and shirt, as well as telling her hands to undo the restraints that where holding up his pants. The memory of slipping her legs around him left Hermiones bank of recent memories as well, but she did seem to know this act took place some time after her skirt and underwear came off. She was completely clueless as to how Draco had become undressed but didn't mind the lovely view him being shirtless gave off. What she did remember clearly was the mixed feeling of pleasure and pain when he slipped his member into her for the first time. He was slow and gentle at first, taking into consideration that this was her first time. Her fingernails dug into his shoulder blades as he picked up speed. Their eyes met for a moment; his full of lust, their lips where drawn together, as if magnetized, with crushing force.

Her perception of time had completely slipped though her grasp. All she knew was that she did not want the waves of pleasure that washed over to stop. However, at some later time unknown to the both of them, it came to an end. Draco slowly pulled out of her and they both got dressed in silence. Hermione found her wand, which had somehow managed to rest itself clear across the bathroom, and muttered a contraceptive spell.

For a third time that night, Hermione made her way over to the bathroom door and looked over to Draco who had returned to the sink in which she had found him, leaning aginst it slightly. No words where said; everything they might have been thinking about saying was understood. Hermione finally left the bathroom realizing that the man that she wanted to be with was not Ron, not that you could call him a man, but was with Draco. She smiled to herself, thinking about how the little things would be different if they hadn't bumped into each other on the train. As insignificant as they may seem to others, they mattered the world to her.

Life went on like that for the longest of time. Harry still thought that Draco was a Death Eater (Hermione had long ago given up on trying to change his mind) and was now dating Ginny, with Rons approval. Ron had finally broken things off with Lavender, who tried very desperately to make him change his mind. Hermione had kept her relationship with Draco quite quiet; the world was not in a stable enough place for them to go public.

It was safe to say that they had well passed friendship and was now much more then she could have ever imagined. As much as she had heard in the corridors of the school about Dracos sexual habits, they didn't have, what Hermione liked to think, an above average number of 'sexi times'. As often as Draco and Hermiones busy schedule permitted, they would sneak out of their common rooms during the night to spend time with each other. They decided that it would be best to keep up the act of their hatred in the hallways, just to make sure that no suspicions where roused.

On one particular evening Hermione sat in her dormitory catching up on a bit of light reading, when she had received a mysterious owl. The note the barn owl had delivered had only one line that said 'I'm so sorry'. It was unsigned, but Hermione knew the penmanship to be Dracos. She couldn't understand what he had been sorry about. She looked up into the night sky through her window and was the Dark Mark over one of the towers, at this sight she dismissed the note from her made and made for a rush to find the Head of her house.

She was unable to find the Head instead she fallowed the crowd of students who where headed towards the Entrance Hall. Teachers where there, pushing students out of the school and refusing to answer any questions for the time being. Hermione had made it outside when one of the students pointed up to the sky and all eyes in the crowd fallowed the finger. A form of some sort hovered for a second or two before falling to the ground. The form landed with a strange cracking sound, bringing some screams and whimpers from the younger students. Every person who had been outside was now growing closer to the form, it had been Professor Dumbledore.

A couple of days later, Hermione learned that Harrys theory of Draco being a Death Eater was correct. Draco had been ordered by Lord Voldemort to murder Professor Dumbledore and she now understood clearly his apologetic note. Hermione felt absolutely betrayed, she truly thought that he had changed.

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**Epilogue**

They had decided to return to Hogwarts to attend their long waited, 7th year. There had been many changes within the walls of Hogwarts since the end of the war. Inner-house unity wasn't nearly as bad as it was before; during unimportant meals most of the houses where mixed together, it was no longer a shock to see a Gryffindor and a Slytherin walking together amongst the grounds and even Professor Snape seemed a small bit better towards the Gryffindors. All the students that had died during the battle at Hogwarts had been buried near the lake in a small graveyard where Professor Dumbledores tomb stood in the middle of it.

Hermione had made it a habit to come down to the graveyard every Friday after classes and pay her respects to those she knew who passed on and to those she had not known. It did not matter how hard she tried or how much time passed, the death of two particular students always brought tears to her eyes; Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

Lord Voldemort had killed Draco to obtain The Elder Wand, which he needed to kill Harry. Lord Voldemort had sent his snake, Nagini, on Draco. Hermione, sadly watched in horror as this happened. Harry, on the other hand, had died shortly after he ended the rein of Lord Voldemort. His back had been turned for a split second on a Death Eater, which was all the Death Eater needed. In that split second said Death Eater fired off the Killing Curse, Harry had barely enough time to turn around before the curse hit him right in the chest.

Hermione knew that Harry wanted to go so long as he had taken out Lord Voldemort and she knew that he was in a better place, but she couldn't help but wish her friend was back as well as the boy she was going to marry.


End file.
